I need help resolving a barrel problem

[Banjobob]

I ordered a new barrel from a gunsmith in July of last year. I paid in full and was told it would take "about 11 weeks." I discussed reamer options with him and in the end I decided to buy my own reamer for him to use on the new barrel. I sent it to him.

The last response I've gotten from him was December 6, 2011. He said he had the reamer the blank and I might have it before christmas. Sounded good. Well, I still do not have it. Nor have I gotten any explanation, update or response.

Am I being unreasonable? I was told three months, its now nearly 12 months and I've not received a response or update in 7 months.

He has my $400 and my brand new PTG reamer, which I've needed twice.

What should I do?

[BoilerUP]

Who is the gunsmith? You haven't had ANY contact with him in 7 months? No phone, email, anything?!?

Personally I'd get a lawyer involved, ASAP.

[calib]

you are being to patient, i would be calling, emailing leaving messages tell someone responds. how far are they from you? i'm sure you have e mail traffic from back when you were able to get a hold of him. maybe do like boilerup says and get a hold of a lawyer and see what they can do or suggest

[Leonardo63]

I'd say you got hosed by now. As Calib said, I would have been beyond reasonable by now. Get a lawyer- They will start with a ph call and or official letter. Sometimes enough to shake the trees in order to make money fall out of it.

[nsaqam]

I'd send a Registered Letter politely but firmly asking for a completed barrel or your money and reamer back to you within two weeks.

Tell him unless he complies that you'll be forced to secure the services of an attorney to recover your items.

No need for a lawyer right now and a Registered Letter is a whole lot cheaper than an attorney.

[Blue Avenger]

I'd send a Registered Letter politely but firmly asking for a completed barrel or your money and reamer back to you within two weeks.

Tell him unless he complies that you'll be forced to secure the services of an attorney to recover your items.

No need for a lawyer right now and a Registered Letter is a whole lot cheaper than an attorney.

registered letter that requires a signature so you know he is still alive. You may be able to go a step further depending on the town / county and ask the sheriff to check up on them?

[Banjobob]

I'm glad to hear I'm not being unreasonable in getting frustrated. I tried calling today and have not had the call returned.

I have been patient because he is a very well respected member on this forum.

I really don't think it's worth getting an attorney involved and only brought it up here in hopes of getting the ball moving on his part, this is really a last resort.

[Banjobob]

registered letter that requires a signature so you know he is still alive. You may be able to go a step further depending on the town / county and ask the sheriff to check up on them?

He's still alive I saw a post here from him a couple of weeks ago.

[calib]

i am guessing that you have probably sent him plenty of pm's rite?

[Banjobob]

update: I finally got a response last night, not fully resolved, but its a start. I'll update when something changes.

[calib]

sounds good, interested to hear how things go

[nsaqam]

I admire your restraint in not naming this 'smith.

As well as your monumental patience.

[nuclabuyer]

I believe that I have sent the same smith a couple parts to work on and after 7 months on something he said he would do over the weekend, I finally got it back, untouched. I guess what I am saying is that so far everyone one this forum has been pretty honest about the work they do and I am sure that the registered letter would do the trick without having to get lawyers invloved.

[coonhunter70]

Hmmm.

[devildogandboy]

it's been nearly 10 days now, the suspense is killing me. have you heard anymore from the smith? i definitely wouldn't recommend the guy to anyone after this!
hope it works out well for you.

[brtelec]

I was a moderator on a forum a couple of years back and these types of problems got resolved through the Admin. You should pm the admin with what is going on and let them handle it. We would get things quietly resolved or in the event of no resolution on 2 or more complaints we would publicly announce a warning in regards to doing business with this person and then ban them from the site. Protecting the members of this community is part of the Admins job, but they can not do this unless you involve them.

[Admin]

It's not our business to get involved in the dealings between two other people or someone and a manufacturer/vendor, and we won't do it. That said, we do encourage people to let us know privately of legitimate problems they have had with an individual or vendor so we can be aware of it and boot them from the site and/or put up a warning for others should such behavior persist to warrant such action.

Of course the other side of the coin is that in many instances like this where someone comes on complaining about a deal gone bad or a vendor lying to them we only get one side of the story. Then we talk to the vendor and we get an entirely different story that's often backed up with documentation. This is exactly why we don't get involved in such disputes because we don't know for 100% certainty what has and hasn't happened up to that point as it's a he said/she said kinda thing.

We also consider it very bad form to come on our forum or any other forum and openly badmouth a person or vendor by name. All that is going to do is stir the pot and make matters worse rather than get you closer to resolving the problem. The transaction is and always has been between you and that person or vendor, and they're the only ones with whom you need to work with to resolve it. yes it can be frustrating at times and you'll want to spout off, but trust me...having been on both sides of that coin I can tell you with absolute certainty you're doing so will do more harm than good.

[DanS]

Curious how this is going to turn out.

I have a local gunsmith that does most of my work now. He is great. I gave him a barrel and my reamer and watched him set-up, machine, thread, and chamber a Savage barrel in under two hours. He's an old benchrest guy and does this as a hobby. I am more than pleased with his work and prices too.

[Banjobob]

Resolution!!! He said he screwed up, said his records indicated the barrel was sent months ago, but when he looked at my unused reamer acknowledged it had not been sent or completed. He sent the reamer and a refund check. It happens, who amongst us has not screwed up? I'm glad it worked out for me.

I let it go longer than I should have and should have been pressing more in hindsight. I was busy with another rifle and listened to all who said to be patient, it will get done when it gets done.

I have no hard feelings, mistakes happen and he did the right thing.

For those that want his name, not a chance. He screwed up, acknowledged it and made it right, no harm done.

[davemuzz]

I have no hard feelings, mistakes happen and he did the right thing.

For those that want his name, not a chance. He screwed up, acknowledged it and made it right, no harm done.

Very fair of you. Everyone kills a fly with a bazooka now 'n then. This guy manned up and did the right thing. I think your doing the right thing as well.

FWIW

DAve